Buy your cat a toy in this colour – they will see it better

You can find out what colors cats can see according to current scientific knowledge, and what to consider combining this with when buying toys.

Therefore, before we dive in, let us emphasise that we are showing based on the current state of science what colours cats can see.

Cats do not see the world in grey

What colours do cats see?

The perception of colours is done by the nerve cells of the eye. The retina contains two main cell types: rods, which detect brightness and motion, and cones, which distinguish colours. Both the human and the cat eye contain three types of cones, which identify combinations of red, blue, and green colours. However, humans possess ten times as many cone cells as cats, therefore humans are capable of distinguishing far more shades of colour.

According to scientific observations, cats do not perceive the full colour spectrum that humans do. In the past, it was thought that our pets are dichromatic, meaning they see only two colours, but this is not entirely true. They are able to perceive bluish and yellowish shades. It is believed that most of them prefer blue the most, since they see this colour the clearest. The rest of the world appears dull and greyish to them. A bit like when in a greyscale photo only one colour is vivid, to create a dramatic effect.

Some assumptions suggest there may be a chance that perhaps they can distinguish other colours too, however these are likely to appear much duller, or more similar to the two main colours they perceive. For example, purple is a mixture of blue and red; the latter is not perceived by cats, but the former is, thus in their case purple is presumably more like a dull blue. Yellow, according to assumptions, may appear more greenish to them, while red, which contains neither blue nor green, simply appears grey to cats’ eyes. In summary, it can be said that the colours seen by cats are less vivid than those perceived by us humans.

A yellow or blue toy may be more attention-grabbing for them, but it’s even more important that it moves

What they lose in colour recognition, they compensate in other ways. For example, they possess a much wider field of vision than we do. Cats’ visual range is 200 degrees, while humans’ is only 180 degrees. In addition, they also have excellent night vision. They need much less light – about 20% less – than we do to see clearly. This is thanks to the light-sensitive cells in their retina, called the tapetum lucidum, which will glow when light hits it in the dark.

It causes them no trouble that they see fewer colours. They do not primarily orient themselves based on colour, but rather rely on motion detection and their night vision. In the wild, it is not colour that helps them hunt, but the fact that they are able to detect even the slightest movement. A moving object grabs their attention much more than something vividly coloured.

Blue objects can be attractive

These are the kinds of toys worth treating your cat to

If you’ve read the above, we probably won’t be revealing a big secret when we say it might be worth getting your pet blue and yellow toys. To support this with a personal story, I’ll share with you that our kittens last year found the fallen fruit of the Chinese lemon to be the greatest joy of all. They often played with the cute little balls for hours, and even brought them to their beds. All this despite the fact that, in theory, cats don’t like the smell or taste of citrus fruits.

But as you read in the paragraph two above, movement has a stronger effect on them, so if you manage to find a safe toy that is blue or yellow and moves when touched, wobbles, bounces or rolls, you’ll likely be onto a winner.

Click here to find out how to play with your cat properly.